ISLAMABAD: The official toll of buried Pakistani soldiers has gone up to 130 in the avalanche near the Siachen glacier on the border with India on Saturday, official sources said.

“The numberof buried soldiers could be nearly 130,” official sources in Gilgit told The Express Tribune.

According to sources, heavy machinery has been sent from Rawalpindi for rescue work.

Army helicopters have been sent to the site to search/ rescue the buried soldiers, one of them a colonel heading them.

“At six o’clock this morning this avalanche hit (military) headquarters. Over 100 soldiers and personnel are trapped,” said the spokesman, Major-General Athar Abbas earlier, adding that rescue teams were headed to the scene.

He said the army would comment later on whether there were any casualties.